Case Studies

Real employment tribunal decisions, explained in plain English for employees. Each case sets out what happened, what the tribunal found, and what it means for you.

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Topic

Unfair Dismissal 55 Disability Discrimination 44 Discrimination 34 Procedural Fairness 32 Constructive Dismissal 31 Reasonable Adjustments 28 Employer duties 22 Equality Act 22 Occupational Health 22 Harassment 21

Redundancy 21 Mutual Trust and Confidence 18 Compensation 17 Employment Tribunal 16 Evidence and records 16 Disciplinary procedure 15 Contracts and Agreements 14 Grievance procedure 14 Pay 14 Whistleblowing 13 Breach of contract 12 Disciplinary Process 12 Capability 10 Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination 10 Misconduct 9 Protected disclosure 9 Settlement 9 Bullying 8 Detriment 8 Employment rights 8 Consultation 7 Management Conduct 7 Suspension 7 Time Limits 7 unpaid wages 7 Without Prejudice 7 case-law 6 Disciplinary Investigations 6 Employment Status 6 Ill-health capability 6 Resignation 6 Disciplinary 5 insolvency 5 notice pay 5 TUPE 5 work-related-stress 5 wrongful dismissal 5 Affirmation 4 duty-of-care 4 Implied Terms 4 Polkey Reduction 4 Right to Representation 4 Vicarious Liability 4 Victimisation 4 Worker Rights 4 Attendance Management 3 Investigation 3 Natural Justice 3 Public interest 3 Race Discrimination 3 Sick Leave 3 Trust and Confidence 3 Working time 3 Contributory Conduct 2 Disclosure 2 Dismissal procedure 2 Holiday Pay 2 ill-health 2 Last Straw 2 managerial-competence 2 National Minimum Wage 2 Restraint of Trade 2 sickness absence 2 written warning 2 absence 1 Adoption Leave 1 Agency Workers 1 bias 1 compensatory-award 1 Consistency 1 control-test 1 Cumulative Disclosures 1 dismissal 1 education 1 higher-education 1 HMRC and Tax 1 Information vs Allegation 1 Length of service 1 Opt-out agreements 1 Overtime 1 Protected Conversation 1 public-interest-test 1 Qualifying Disclosure 1 reason-for-dismissal 1 Religion or Belief Discrimination 1 self-employment 1 Sex Discrimination 1 Shared Parental Leave 1 statutory-guarantee 1 Strike-out Threshold 1 worker-status 1 Working Hours 1

Outcome

All Employee-favourable 157 Employer-favourable 42 Mixed 35

234 case studies

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Employer-favourable 1981

Carrying on working after a serious breach may cost you the right to claim.

If your employer breaches your contract, continuing to work normally for too long without protest can extinguish your right to claim constructive dismissal.

Affirmation Breach of contract Constructive Dismissal Employment rights

Employer-favourable 1981

In unfair dismissal, the question is not whether you are innocent but whether your employer’s decision was within the range of responses a reasonable employer would take.

Unfair dismissal is not about whether you are guilty or innocent. It is about whether your employer’s decision and process fell within the range of what a reasonable employer would have done.

Consistency Disciplinary procedure Investigation Unfair Dismissal

Employer-favourable 1980

Repeated short-term absences can justify dismissal if your employer follows a fair process.

Persistent short-term absences can justify dismissal even where each absence was caused by genuine illness, but only if your employer followed a fair procedure including warnings and a genuine opportunity to improve.

absence

Employee-favourable 1979

If your employer does nothing about colleague harassment, that silence can cost them

If your employer does nothing about workplace harassment, they carry the burden of explaining why.

Employer duties Harassment

Employer-favourable 1978

Your employer must genuinely believe you are at fault before dismissing you.

Before dismissing you for misconduct, your employer must genuinely believe you are guilty, have reasonable grounds for that belief, and have carried out a proper investigation first.

Disciplinary Misconduct Unfair Dismissal

Employer-favourable 1978

Resigning because of how your employer treated you can still count as dismissal in law.

Resigning because of how you were treated can still be dismissal in law, but only if your employer actually breached your contract, not just behaved badly.

Constructive Dismissal Resignation Trust and Confidence

Employee-favourable 1978

Being sworn at and told to leave can be constructive dismissal.

Abusive language from your employer can be a fundamental breach of your contract.

Constructive Dismissal

Employer-favourable 1978

Your employer must show the standard was genuinely unacceptable, not just imperfect.

Dismissal on capability grounds requires a genuine and reasonably held belief that the employee cannot perform to the required standard, based on proper investigation, not simply an incident or a disagreement about performance.

Capability Dismissal procedure Procedural Fairness Unfair Dismissal

Employee-favourable 1978

You have the right to know what is being said against you at a disciplinary and a real chance to answer it.

You cannot properly defend yourself against a case you have not been allowed to see, so a fair disciplinary must let you know the substance of the evidence against you.

Disciplinary procedure

Employer-favourable 1977

Your employer can judge managerial competence harshly, but must raise concerns with you first.

Tribunals give employers genuine room to judge whether a manager is up to the job. That latitude only holds if concerns were raised with you over time and alternatives were properly considered.

Capability managerial-competence Procedural Fairness Unfair Dismissal

Employee-favourable 1977

Before dismissing for long-term illness, your employer must consult you and get medical evidence.

Before dismissing you for long-term illness, your employer must discuss the medical evidence with you and give you a real chance to respond, not just act on a report you've never seen.

Capability Consultation Ill-health capability

Employer-favourable 1977

When your employer is deciding whether to dismiss you for ill-health absence, your personal circumstances must be part of that decision.

An ill-health dismissal requires the employer to genuinely investigate the medical position and balance the employee’s personal circumstances, length of service, and the prognosis against the needs of the business.

Dismissal procedure Ill-health capability Length of service Unfair Dismissal

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